Taxes to jobs: Candidates debate issues

Monday

Jul 14, 2014 at 3:31 PM

CLINTON — On Thursday night, the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce hosted a debate for the three candidates for Anderson County mayor and Hallerin Hilton Hill of NewsTalk 98.7 was the moderator. Incumbent Mayor Terry Frank, a Republican met challengers Jim Hackworth, a Democrat, and Independent candidate Bradley Rickett in The Ritz Theater in Clinton.

by Russel Langley/The Oak Ridger

CLINTON — On Thursday night, the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce hosted a debate for the three candidates for Anderson County mayor and Hallerin Hilton Hill of NewsTalk 98.7 was the moderator. Incumbent Mayor Terry Frank, a Republican met challengers Jim Hackworth, a Democrat, and Independent candidate Bradley Rickett in The Ritz Theater in Clinton.Hill began the debate by laying down the ground rules and telling the crowd and candidates how to behave.“I like enthusiastic crowds ... at football games,” Hill said. To the candidates, “When I say break, you break.”Each candidate was given three minutes to give opening remarks and one minute to respond to questions. The first candidate to field each question was then given a 30 second rebuttal period. Frank was the first candidate to respond to the question about properly funding the new jail and not raising the property tax rate.Frank said the new jail expansion is already open and the property tax rate was not increased. In fact, she said, in 2013 the tax rate was marginally decreased. She then used some of her time to say that Hackworth, while a county commissioner, voted for a 14-cent property tax rate increase in 1980.Hackworth said that working together will help the jail to operate more efficiently. He stuck with a platform of communications and unity throughout the night and even quoted Abraham Lincoln several times. He also said he never voted for a tax rate increase while on the County Commission.Rickett said that communications were a “big key” and that the county does not have that “key” now. He said he wants to look at ways to reduce the jail’s budget.Frank used her rebuttal time to remind Rickett that Maintenance of Effort laws prevent reduction of the jail’s budget and that there are other ways to generate revenue for the jail. Maintenance of Effort involves laws that mandate that local funding not be reduced, but kept event or increased.Hill then wanted to know how the candidates would address the perceived communications problems between the mayor’s office and other county departments.Hackworth was first to tackle the question and said the mayor needs to be a leader and not defy Commission requests and desires. Rickett said he wants to meet with everyone in the Anderson County Courthouse and get their ideas on improving communications. Frank said that she did not see any communication problems in her office and called the communications issues a “political complaint.” Frank then said that county officials as whole is not communicating enough with the county’s citizens.The past year has seen some controversy and debate centered on the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department and its subscription service. Hill asked the candidates for their comments on the issue.Rickett said the subscription service is a “double-edged sword” and that he would support it only if it was done right. He said the service would have to be the cheapest possible for him to support it.Frank said that she takes a “federalist view” of the issue and if the community wants the service, she supports it. She also acknowledged that the county has had some funding issues with volunteer fire departments within the county.Hackworth echoed the other two candidates about listening to the people. He said it is clear that citizens want meetings and discussions on the issue and those meetings should be held. He said the issue has divided neighbors and families and that the county should work with volunteer fire departments so they don’t need subscription services.When it came to growth, housing, employment and retail development, Frank said Anderson County has done well and unemployment is down in the county. She said the best way to improve in those areas listed is to keep “taxes stabilized.”Hackworth wants to “ramp up the pace” in recruiting businesses and families to the county. He said all players from the state, regional, and local levels need to work together and be more aggressive to attract jobs. Rickett wants the county to work with Oak Ridge to help develop the approximately 1,700 acres of industrial space he said the city has available. He also said that the county only has about 60 acres available for industrial development.Each candidate was given a chance to explain their plan to bring jobs to the county. Hackworth said he wants a forum to bring people in to revisit available resources in Anderson County. He also wants to pursue contracts with companies looking to relocate and increase civility in the county government.“A lack of civility drives people away,” he said.Rickett said that there are lots of businesses in California looking to relocate and that he wants to bring them all to Anderson County. He said he wants to aggressively “go after” companies looking for new homes.Frank said that the mayor’s office does not create jobs. She said the mayor needs to work with all players to create an environment that businesses want to relocate to and the jobs will follow.When the question of retail development came up, Rickett said he wanted to bring in more industrial jobs that pay higher wages so families can pay their bills. Frank acknowledged that industrial development was important, but said housing is more important to retail growth.“Retail developers count rooftops when they look into an area,” Frank said.Hackworth said he wants to attract higher paying jobs so people have money to spend on retail. He also wants the federal government to fund cleanup of the Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge and tax increment financing (TIF) for new housing development, if that is legal.In the interest of time, Hill combined the last three questions into a three-part question: how to get local businesses more work in Oak Ridge, the candidates' position on TIFs, and their positions on inmate labor.Frank said she wants to network and get the word out about local business that can fill the needs of the DOE in Oak Ridge. She said she supports TIFs because they allow for infrastructure development. All three candidates said inmate labor was “absolutely good” for the inmates and the county.Hackworth said he wants to hold forums with DOE to meet with local businesses. He said he supports TIFs and said they work well. Rickett said communication and networking are key to working in Oak Ridge and he supports TIFs as long as they are “good for the community.”All three candidates were given time to give closing statements and reemphasize their positions. Hackworth used his time to defend his voting record and say that he never voted for tax increases and thanked the crowd. Frank and Rickett also thanked the crowd and asked for their votes in the coming election.Russel Langley can be reached at (865) 220-5514.